Now Commenting On:

Bonds slugs No. 749, six behind Aaron

Bonds slugs No. 749, six behind Aaron

Bonds found a bead on Proctor and fouled off three consecutive fastballs, all of which he got a big piece of, before lighting up another Proctor fastball that was served up right over the plate for home run No. 749.

"If he's going to hit one, I'd much rather he do it on a fastball than anything else," Proctor said.

The stage was set with the Yankees in town, and Bonds didn't miss the spotlight, but the rest of the Giants remained in the shadows during a 7-3 loss to the Yankees on Friday.

Bonds launched a solo shot over right-center field in an eight-pitch at-bat to open the eighth inning. The home run didn't do much to close in on the Yankees lead, cutting the score to 6-3, but it did move Bonds within six of tying Hank Aaron's all-time record.

With a four-run lead and the bases empty, Yankees manager Joe Torre said there was no way they were going to walk him.

"He used to beat my brains out when he was with Pittsburgh," Torre said. "If you see that little clip of him throwing his hands up in the air, that was against me."

Bonds has hit quite a few home runs in his career, but it was only the second he's taken from the Yankees, and it was the first he's hit off Proctor. Bonds' first home run against the Yankees was hit June 8, 2002, off Ted Lilly. Proctor became pitcher No. 442 on Bonds' list of victims.

"It's a club I wish I weren't a part of," Proctor said.

Bonds hit his last home run Sunday off Tim Wakefield at Fenway Park. Friday's homer was Bonds' 15th of the season, hit in front of the largest regular-season crowd in AT&T Park history at 43,425.

"You get caught up as a fan to see Barry Bonds and he had two great matchups tonight, one against Kei [Igawa] and the other against Proctor," Alex Rodriguez said. "It's a beautiful thing to watch."

Bonds' first good matchup was in the fifth inning with the bases loaded and two out; he took starting pitcher Igawa to a full count before being walked.